‘Cut sugar’ campaign to tackle childhood obesity
HALF the sugar consumed by children comes from unhealthy snacks and sugary drinks.
Public Health England has revealed that the average child now consumes at least three unhealthy snacks and sugary drinks every day, with about a third consuming four or more.
This leaves children easily consuming three times more sugar than is recommended.
The PHE’s new Change4Life campaign encourages parents to “Look for 100-calorie snacks, two a day max”.
It has been launched to help tackle Britain’s obesity epidemic, with a third of children leaving primary school overweight or obese.
The recommended daily maximum is the equivalent of five cubes of sugar for four to six-year-olds and six cubes for seven to 10-year-olds. However each year the average child consumes 400 biscuits, 120 cakes, buns and pastries, around 100 portions of sweets and nearly 70 of both chocolate bars and ice creams, all washed down with 150 juice drinks and fizzy drinks.
The campaign will offer parents deals on healthier snacks, including fruit and vegetables. Healthier suggestions include fresh or tinned fruit salad, chopped vegetables, rice cakes, malt loaf, crackers and crumpets.
Justine Roberts, chief executive of Mumsnet, said: “The volume of sugar kids are getting from snacks and sugary drinks alone is mindblowing.
“It’s often difficult to distinguish which snacks are healthy and which are not.”